Basically do people use timers? An app that prompts you when to shift to a different speed or exercise/resistance? Watch the clock?
As title says, no idea how this might work. I found workout plans, but they are like “so many minutes doing this thing, then switch to the next thing” and I really suck at watching the clock when working out.
I like the classes locally but I’m not able to get to them with my schedule.
I usually set a timer, then focus on keeping a certain RPM until the timer goes off.
When I was in HS I ran cross country, and the coach had us do a running workout that involved staying right on the edge between aerobic and anaerobic respiration. You can tell you’ve entered anaerobic respiration because your muscles start to burn.
That kind of thing is really useful for developing the ability to work out self-directed. Being able to sense when your body is in its sweet spot is a valuable skill.
Is it a spinning bike? Plenty of virtual classes for free on the interwebs.
If you have a power meter you can try out zwift or rouvy. You can see yourself riding specific routes on screen and they have workout programs that prompt change of intensity. Otherwise I think GCN has some follow along youtube videos, and there might be others as well.
I have a Kickr Core connected to Zwift, which is nicer than just spinning endlessly since it’ll adjust the resistance (unless in ERG mode). But it still gets boring and it’s not like riding on the road. My ass still takes a hit. Standing once in a while helps, but I think the idea another poster had of just taking occasional breaks is best.
I’d like to get a rocker plate, but even there I suspect for longer rides breaks will be needed since you just don’t get the same movement as out on the road.
When I use mine, I don’t do training like that. I end up playing Xbox or watching TV or 2-3 hours while I just pedal.
However, when I was doing that, the bike had preset “routes” you could do where the resistance changed on it’s own, and I’d just try to keep the same pace up for the 30min-1hr I was doing. It could also do it across distances. When I wasn’t doing the preset courses, I was just setting the resistance to what felt decent, and then keeping up my RPM (usually ~100). If I was really feeling myself, I’d up the resistance a bit. If it was a bad day, I’d drop it down. The total distance at the end would change based on the resistance I used, so I could at least always tell what days were “better” and which weren’t. The motivation was just wanting to see if I could beat my previous distance.
thats basically what I was doing at the gym, but the bikes with present modes don’t have enough adjustability to fit me very well and my back ends up hurting afterwards. So I need to switch to using one of the dumb bikes with all the adjustments but no computer like what you see in a spin class.
That and my kids wouldn’t stand for hours of exercise, I get like 30 minutes. I was just going indefinitely and keeping my rpm around 100, but I’m trying to mix it up
You don’t necessarily need to keep the time to do it. You could just give yourself rest periods and push periods, but it’d probably be hard to keep the motivation without seeing number go up lol, at least to me. If all you get is total distance at the end, then I’d definitely just do the RPM thing. Just set a goal RPM and a rest RPM and bounce between the two as you are able to push total distance
